Immunology outstanding for mentoring postgraduate students

The Department of Immunology was identified in 2012 as an outstanding unit for postgraduate mentoring and supervision. The Department was ranked second in the entire University in the Postgraduate Research Student survey, and in the top ten for the 2011 Postgraduate Research Supervision Survey.

Master of Medicine in perioperative medicine in high demand

The Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine has launched a Master in Medicine in particular for the area of perioperative medicine. The course description says, 'Surgical patients are getting older and sicker.' Which makes their care more complex, hence the demand for this course. The first unit starting this semester is fully subscribed with a wait list. See more detail about the course at www.masters.periopmedicine.org.au.

Grant to further heart transplant research

Professor Frank Rosenfeldt, Department of Surgery, has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Health Market Validation Program (Health MVP) to continue his research on transplant donor heart preservation. The research is currently in the pre-clinical stage. The grant will be used to further develop the device for a donor heart to be resuscitated and evaluated for transplant.

CCAF Fellowship grant for cancer researcher Smitha Georgy

Dr Smitha Georgy has won a $100,000 grant to further investigate the mechanisms of head and neck cancers, in particular the signalling pathways to control proliferating cells. Smitha is a Senior Research Officer in the Epidermal Development Laboratory, Department of Medicine. The grant was awarded by the Cure Cancer Australia Foundation (CCAF).

Smart phone app for IBS sufferers

04/02/2013 A new smartphone app developed by the Department of Gastroenterology provides an on-the-go reference to help the one-in-seven adults who suffer irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) avoid the foods that trigger their symptoms.

Plasma cell survival research

Research on plasma cell survival by Associate Professor Mark Wright (Dept of Immunology) and colleagues, published in Science Signalling, was highlighted in a recent Nature Immunology research review. Mark’s research is on the role of an protein called CD37 in the tetraspanin family of proteins. CD37 is formed on the surface of B cells and together with many other tetraspanins, it organises traffic through the cell membrane.

Window to optimise HIV-1 therapy

17/01/2012 Dr Edwina Wright, an infectious diseases physician and clinical researcher in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Monash and at The Alfred with a program at The Burnet, had an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Patients who are started on antiretroviral therapy for HIV-1 infection within four months of estimated infection date — and who have higher counts of CD4+ T-cells at the initiation of therapy — demonstrate a stronger recovery of CD4+ T-cell counts than patients in whom therapy is started later.